Meet Your Match
by JaspersGirl8
Summary: Embry Call thinks he is the king of La Push. This arrogant, womanising werewolf not only meets his match, but he imprints on her. The whole world thinks she's perfect, but is perfection as easy as it looks? Set a year or so after Eclipse. EmbryxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Meet Your Match**

**Chapter 1**

**Embry POV**

Home, sweet home. I had just spent the last five nights in California on an impulsive trip with my mother and it was not very fun.

God, how I hate funerals. If you ask me, there is nothing worse. My great aunt had died last weekend, in the early hours of Sunday morning and my mum had decided to blow all of our savings on flying us both out there to 'be with the family'.

Don't get me wrong, I am very big on the importance of family, but truth be told, neither of us knew my great aunt Nancy, or her immediate family well at all. I spent the whole time feeling as if I were intruding on private time in those poor people's lives.

My mum, drama queen that she is, however, had insisted on informing everyone that she knew of the loss, and almost passed out when I suggested that even if we went for the service, we shouldn't stay with them for the entire three days before then.

I didn't have the patience to deal with her sullenness and childish actions for the weeks to follow, so I packed my bags, and boarded the plane.

But finally, after missing a whole week of school, we arrived back in La Push around lunchtime.

I threw my suitcase into my already messy room, and bolted out the back door into the forest so I could finally phase.

After running around for about half an hour, I managed to leave my irritations at my mother behind. With nothing but the blurring trees around me, and the hard ground under my paws I finally felt at peace. I felt like myself again.

I became the usual care-free, laughing, joking Embry that everyone knew and loved.

A beautiful smell of blueberry muffins hit my senses suddenly, and I realised that I had run past Sam and Emily's.

After phasing back, and putting on some cut off sweats, I knocked swiftly on the door, but walked in without waiting for an answer.

I was shocked when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I looked down to see Emily pressing her self against me.

"Your mum told us about your great aunt, are you ok?" She asked, giving me a warm smile. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

"I am fine, I only ever met her once, and that was a long time ago." I answered as I grabbed one of the still piping hot muffins of the tray and swallowed it whole.

"Ahh" I sighed, "I had almost forgotten just how good your cooking was Em." She smiled at my flattery, but still noticed as I went to grab another,

"Same some for your brothers!"

Luckily for me she was distracted from Sam walking into the kitchen. He had obviously just woken up, and I hoped I hadn't been the one to do that. We wolves could get cranky when we needed sleep.

They shared a hug and a kiss, and I took the moment to grab another muffin off the tray.

Unfortunately for me Emily turned around to see the gaping wholes in the muffin tray, but I was saved from further chastising when we heard the front door open, and a number of footsteps, and voices talking over each other.

Jake was the first one to walk in, and as soon as he saw me, he gave me one those manly one armed hugs, that aren't really hugs of course, and grabbed a muffin. Quil did the same, and the rest of them all gave me highs fives, or pats on the back, before helping themselves to a snack. Even Leah gave me a smile, she was finally starting to warm up. Personally I think she is finally get laid, but she almost took a chunk out of my shoulder when I suggested this last time we were on patrol together, so I had kept my thoughts to myself since.

Kim was the last to walk in, holding Jared hand, and after I gave Jared a high five, a pulled her up into a bear hug. It was good to be home, I hadn't heard squeals like that for almost a week.

Jared quickly pulled her out of my grasp, and put her down. For some reasons she had some issue with keeping her feet on the floor.

Once everyone had settled themselves around the kitchen, Sam started to do his Alfa thing, and I tried to listen, but there wasn't really much to say. Things had been quiet on the bloodsucker front for ages now.

We had set up a tradition of meeting after school on Fridays to go over the patrol schedule after Sam realised that when we were meeting on Mondays, some of us, not me of course, were prone to forgetting our weekend shifts by the time they came around.

"So, tonight, it will be Seth and myself patrolling, tomorrow, Paul and Leah, tomorrow night, Brady and Collin, Sunday, Embry and Jacob, and Sunday night, Jared and Quil. Weekly schedule is as usual now that Embry is back." He informed us.

We tried to keep weekdays as regular as possible, so our lives could be slightly more regular, but we rotated the weekends, so that the same people didn't always miss out on Friday or Saturday nights.

I grinned when I realised that Jacob, Quil and I all had tonight off.

"Well boys, what's the plan for tonight?" I asked them grinning.

"There is a massive party for seniors tonight, a welcome for the new chick I think." Jacob answered; I could tell he was as eager to get out as I was.

"New chick?" I asked, I hadn't heard about any new students.

"Yeah, her name is Kate, she just moved up here from Forks." Quil answered.

"She's a total hottie, too." Seth cut in with.

I smiled, maybe this party would be more fun then I thought. I was running out of girls in La Push. As if she could read my thoughts, Emily joined our conversation,

"Really Embry? Don't you ever get bored going from girl to girl? Not to mention the number of hearts you have broken along the way."

At this most of the pack cracked up. I tried to defend my self.

"I make things clear from the beginning, it's not my fault if they chose to ignore my warnings." I said, but with a smile on my face, I knew they were only teasing.

"You are destroying these ladies faith in all of men though!" Leah added.

"I don't think I am. If anything I am doing them a favour." I shut up, when I realised I didn't have clue what I was talking about, luckily for me, making up crap on the spot was one of my many talents.

"Really?" Kim asked, "Would you mind explaining how, exactly, you are doing those poor girls a favour."

"Well," I started, not sure where I would go with this, "You see, if I were to settle down with a girl, there is always the chance that I would imprint on someone else, thus breaking that poor girls heart. In a way, I am doing all of womankind a favour by not settling down." I paused, "Plus, spending the night with me is always fun for the ladies, I have no problem with doing them lots of favours."

As soon as I said this, a lot of thing happened at once. Both Leah and Emily tried to hit me over the head, Seth, Collin and Brady all burst out laughing, Sam just stood in the corner shaking his head, and Paul and Jacob both gave me high fives.

Once the laughter had settled down, Paul added,

"Also, Embry's always a lot happier after he has been laid."

"Exactly" I shouted as I stood up, ready to make my final point. "So not only am I doing womankind kind a favour by not settling down, but I am doing the entire population a favour, by keeping my self in a good mood."

"I give up." Kim said, shaking her head. She got up, and went into the lounge, quickly followed by Emily and Leah.

The boys spent the rest of the afternoon filling me in on all of the events I had missed while I was away.

Emily, of course, made us a huge dinner. For once, she was actually encouraging us to eat more,

"I don't want you boys drinking on an empty stomach." She told us in her best mothering voice.

"Yes Emily." We chorused.

Eventually I headed back home to put on some more decent clothes before the party. I found a note on the table from my mum saying that she was spending the night at a 'friend's' house. For once I was actually please, because it meant I would have the house to myself later on.

Jacob had offered to go desi (A/N designated driver), so after a quick shower, and a change of clothes, I went to wait outside.

It was one of the few nights here in Washington that were not ruined rain or clouds, the sky was just clear, with nothing but stars.

After staring at the stars for a moment, the rabbit pulled up, and I jumped in.

We got there a little after nine, and as soon as I walked in, there were girls everywhere, asking where I had been, and telling me how pleased they were I was back. This is the life.

Quil disappeared for a minute, but soon repaired with beers for us.

"Alright, I think it is time I met this new girl now." I told the guys, they laughed, and started to look around. They didn't need to look for long though, before Abby, the host of the party, got up on the DJ's stage, and announced:

"Kate, this song is dedicated to you, it is your theme song after all. Welcome to La Push!"

As soon as she had finished the opening notes of a song I knew all too well started to play.

"Isn't this that song your sister was obsessed with?" Quil asked Jacob, we all remembered hearing it over and over again.

"Afraid so. The Best Damn Thing, by Avril Lavinge." He answered, with a pained look on his face. He had heard it even more then we had.

I had to laugh as I remember the words. Any girl who thought this was her theme song was defiantly worth meeting.

As the bride came on, I heard a lot of cheering, and looked over to see a girl being lifted onto the table. The chorus started, and she spun around to face to room.

The minute she opened her mouth, I was stunned. She was unlike anything I had seen before. I knew my mouth was wide open, but I didn't care, all I cared about was the goddess singing and dancing on the table

"_You're not, not, not gonna get any better"_

I laughed at the lyrics, but just continued to stare at her and the perfect ways she moved.

She had amazing, dark hair, which had a reddish tint. It didn't wash out her pale skin though, some how it just enhanced her skin tone. She had a strapless, red dress that looked amazing with hair colour. It was tight at the top, enhancing her cleavage, and showing off her small waist, and rounded hips, but then it flared out, so she could dance very easily in it. It was short too, way too short for her to be around other guys, but it did show off her toned legs. I realised you could see the muscles as she moved to the music. Finally she had a pair of very tall, very pointy shoes that looked more like a weapon then an accessory.

"_Yeah, Yeah, Yeah I'm a lot to handle,  
You don't know trouble, I'm a hell of a scandal,  
Me, I'm a scene, I'm a drama queen"_

Suddenly she looked right in my eyes as she sung the last line of the chorus,

"_I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen!"_

She looked away, and continued with her performance, but not before I memorised the beautiful, sparkling blue that her eyes were. Her beautiful, full lips kept singing, and I realised I wanted to be closer to this new angel.

I started to weave through the crowds, to the table, but Quil and Jacob brought me back.

"Don't tell you've done what I think you've done!" Jacob said,

"He has. I had the same look when I saw Claire. Of all people, the pack is going to have a fit when they hear you have imprinted!" Quil started to laugh.

I shoved them off, and made my way to the edge of the table. The song was about to finish, and I wanted to be there to meet her. They came to stand next to me, but thankfully didn't say anything more.

The final chords rang out, and she struck a pose, but she was overenthusiastic, and started to fall off the table.

Without thinking, I threw myself in that direction, and shoved Jacob and Quil out of the way.

The next this I knew she was in my arms. She looked stunned for a second, but quickly composed herself.

"Hi there, I'm Kate. You must be my knight in shining armour."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, ect, are owned by me.

**Chapter 2**

"Hi there, I'm Kate. You must be my knight in shining armour." She told me. I stared back at her, shocked for a minute, but Jacob quickly elbowed me in the ribs, and I was pulled back in to reality.

"That I am. The name's Embry."

"Well thanks heaps for catching me Embry, but you can put me down now." She said with a smile. It was then I realised, not only was I still holding her, but that I didn't want to put her down.

"But what if I don't want to put you down?" I asked, half teasing her.

"Then I would say, could you carry me to the kitchen so I can get another drink?" The way she looked up at me when she said that, her big eyes looking at, and her eyelashes fluttering, I didn't give it a second thought as I got a better hold and her, and started to carry her, bridal style, through to the kitchen.

The minute I started to move, she squealed, and grabbed me around the neck.

"Oh, My God! I was just joking, you don't really have too!" It was so cute the way she panicked.

I didn't reply, I just walked into the kitchen, and sat her down on the bench.

I grabbed us both another drink, and leaned against the opposite bench. I just stared at her, drinking in her beauty.

"So, why haven't I seen you before? I mean La Push doesn't exactly have a huge school." She asked.

"I've been in California for the week, family stuff." I told her, expecting more questions about it.

But she didn't answer, instead just she looked away. She has got to be the first person I have met who hasn't asked at least 'are you ok?' Most of the girls I have ever said this have bombarded me with questions, wanting to know what was going on. It was refreshing, not having someone pry into your life.

"So, you moved up here last weekend from Forks, right?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

She smiled at me, and nodded, but still didn't reply. It was clear she didn't want to say much more, and I certainly wasn't going to ask her anything that could make her uncomfortable.

Suddenly, she skulled the rest of her drink, and slid off then bench,

"Come on, sexy. I love this song!"

She grabbed my hand and practically ran from the room. I bent over, to speak in her ear so she could hear me over the speakers,

"How on earth can you move that fast, in shoes that high?"

She let out a laugh, and spun to face me,

"Practise, lots and lots of practise." She replied

She pulled me out to the dance floor and as soon as we were right at the front, she grabbed my hips, and started to move.

Now dancing is something I love. I dance a lot, especially at things like this, but I have never danced with a girl who was this intense. She sure knew how to move, and I did my best to keep up with her.

I rested my hands on her hips, and it felt amazing to hold her there. To know I was the one she wanted to hold her.

Even with her amazingly high shoes, she was still over a foot shorter than me. I saw her try stand on her tiptoes, but it didn't make much of a difference, so I leaned down to her.

She put her arm around my neck, pulled my ear to her mouth.

"You know, I have always had a thing for knights. Especially the ones who can dance." She whispered in my ear. I thanked god for my werewolf hearing, otherwise I wouldn't have caught it. The feeling of her breath on my skin was the most incredible sensation I have ever felt.

"You are defiantly gorgeous enough to be in a fairy tale. You would make a great princess." I told her. I couldn't help getting a little closer then necessary, and my lips brushed her skin as I spoke.

She shivered as I spoke, and I smiled, glad I had at least some effect on her.

All of a sudden the song changed, and I was shocked to realise we had been dancing for about four minutes. It felt like four seconds.

"I hate this song, wanna grab another drink?" She asked, but instead of answering, I picked her up, and carried her to the kitchen.

This time she squealed with laughter not only threw her arms around my neck, but also buried her head into my chest.

I had to struggle for a moment remembering how to walk when her lips hit my shirt but I soon covered it up.

I looked over to see Jared, Kim and Paul had joined Quil and Jacob. They all gave me thumbs up, and I could tell I was never going to live this down from Kim after our conversation this afternoon.

I put Kate back on the bench she had been sitting on last time, and went to grab some more drinks. This time, instead of leaning back on the opposite bench, I stayed right in front of her, and was ecstatic when she wrapped her legs around my waist.

"You are so warm!" She exclaimed. I laughed, and moved in closer, resting one of my arms on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll stop you from getting cold." I told her, in my most seductive voice.

"So… Tell me about yourself." She said, and I rushed to think of what I could say.

"I am a senior, as you know, I live with my mum," I hesitated at this point. This usually led to the inevitable question, 'where's dad?' I was pleased when she didn't ask, that was not one of my favourite topics. Knowing she wouldn't ask anything I wouldn't want to answer, I continued.

"I'm an only child, I have lived on the rez all my life, and I think you are absolutely gorgeous." With my last statement, I leaned in, and kissed her lightly on the neck. It took all of my self-control not to continue, but I eventually pulled back, I didn't want her to be just like all of the other girls.

"I'm a senior too, I had lived in Forks all my life, until the move of course, I have an older sister, but she is another story, and you're pretty hot yourself." With that she leaned in, and kissed my neck, in a perfect imitation of my trick. I did my best not to purr when her soft lips hit my skin, and I am pretty sure I almost passed out from the feeling.

As soon as she pulled back, I couldn't contain myself any longer, and I leaned in to kiss her. As much as I would have liked our first kiss to be somewhere more romantic then Abby Taylor's kitchen, I am pretty sure I would have imploded if I had to wait.

As soon as my lips hit hers, I felt a jolt of electricity. I tried to keep it soft, and gentle, but her lips moved against mine so perfectly I couldn't help myself. I started to put all of my passion into this kiss, and she quickly did the same. Her hands snaked past my face, and tangled themselves in my hair. For once I was glad I had let it grow longer.

I pulled her in closer, and opened my mouth, letting my tongue trace her lower lip. She quickly opened her mouth, and our tongues fought for dominance, I was going to let hers win, when we were interrupted by shouts and whistles. I pulled back to see all of the Pack members that were seniors standing in the doorway, making their presence very obvious.

Kate leaned her forehead against mine,

"Friends of yours?" She asked

"If I say no, do you think they with go away?" I told her, and then turned back to my mates,

"Can we help you?" I asked, glaring at them. I knew they wouldn't take it too seriously, but hopefully they would get the hint to leave.

Either Jacob didn't get the hint, or he just ignored it (my moneys on the second option) because he walked right up to us,

"Aren't you going to introduce us Embry?" He asked with a smirk on his face. I was gonna have to deck him for that later.

"Kate, these are my mates, Jacob, Quil, Paul, Jared and Kim. Guys, this is Kate." I introduced everyone with a nod of my head; I wasn't ready to let go of my angel just yet.

We all sat around the Kitchen for a while, just talking and joking. Of course it had taken a few whacks to Jacob and Paul before they gave up on trying to embarrass me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see just how well Kate got on with my friends, it made me very hopeful for the future.

She had no problem analysing outfits with Kim, or learning one of Jake's stupidly complicated handshakes, or even dishing comebacks to Quil and Paul.

Finally I got sick of sharing her, so I picked her up, and pulled her onto the dance floor.

She laughed a lot, and although she was used to it by now, I was pleased to see she still wrapped her arms around my neck and clung on tightly.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of dancing, drinking and laughing.

Before I knew it, the clock read quarter to four in the morning, and the party was starting to die down.

Abby Taylor came up and threw her arms around Kate, she was obviously drunk.

"I am so, so, so glad you moved here. You are _the_ most amazing person I have ever met!" Her slurred words were just comprehensible.

Kate gave her a smile, and returned the hug.

"Aww, thank you sweetie. Tonight was fun." She replied, and Abby quickly left to find some one else to throw herself on.

"So what are you in the mood for now?" I asked Kate, as the music was starting to die down.

She considered this, but before she had the chance to answer, she tripped over a step, and squealed as she started to fly towards the ground.

Times like this I was so grateful for my werewolf reflexes, as I caught her with ease, and pulled her upright.

By this point we were both pretty tipsy, so we stood there for a minute, laughing our asses off.

Finally we settled down and Kate pulled me over to some near by seats.

"Ok, I think I have to get out of these shoes." She told me.

"Allow me, Cinderella." I kneeled in front of her, and removed the offending footwear. I was still stunned at how anyone could walk in them.

"How are you getting home?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to say goodbye just yet. Maybe I could walk with her.

"Shit, home. See, I'm kinda not supposed to be here right now, and I am not ready to seeing my mum just yet." She looked out the window, apparently considering her options.

"Do you wanna stay at mine?" I heard pouring out of my mouth, before I even though about.

"I'd love to!" As soon as I heard her reply I felt the biggest grin spread across my face, but as stupid as I am sure I looked, I couldn't help it.

I wrapped my arms around her back and legs, and picked her up bridal style.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked. I looked to make sure I hadn't frightened her, but I saw the glint in her eye, that told me she loved being in my eyes.

"It is a bit of a hike back, and you don't have any shoes. Besides, aren't princesses supposed to be carried?" I told her, as I made my way out.

Giving Quil and Paul a quick nod, I walked out of the front door, and proceeded out the front door.

It was about a twenty-minute walk back to mine, but I knew she was tipsy enough not to find it suspicious that I carried her for that long with out breaking a sweat.

"You don't really have to carry me you know." She said, sounding guilty.

"I happen to like having you in my arms." I told her, leaning down for another kiss.

We walked along the road that lined the forest, just talking and laughing. I was making fun of her height, and she was making fun of my hair cut. It was nice to meet a girl who didn't take every teasing comment personally, and even nicer to meet one who was confidant enough to tease me back.

At one stage I saw a huge black shape staring out at me from the trees. Sam. I gave him the finger though, and he soon disappeared.

We gave up on talking when we were about five minutes away, and I almost dropped her when I felt her kissing my neck. Her soft lips were amazing. I couldn't suppress a growl when I felt her start to suck and bite at the skin, pleased that she was going to leave a mark.

I walked up the front porch, and stopped at the front door.

"No one is home, and I don't have any hands to grab my keys." I told her, not wanting to put her down.

She offered to grab them, and I felt my eyes roll back in my head when I felt her small hand reaching into my pocket, brushing against a part of me that was getting harder by the second.

As soon as she had the door unlocked, I pushed it open with my foot and took her straight upstairs, not putting her down until I reached my bed.

I paused, wanting to see how willing she was before I made any moves, but she quickly motioned for me to come closer, and as soon I was in arms length she entwined her fingers in my hair, and pulled me in for another incredibly passionate kiss.

I climbed onto the bed, over her, but was very careful to ensure all of my weight was going onto the bed. Last thing I wanted now was for her to have an entire werewolf crushing her.

I placed one hand on her hip, and reached to other over to the dressing table to switch on the fan I kept there. I had learnt a while ago that a fan in my room was a very good idea for any non-werewolves who came visiting.

Once the fan was on high I pulled my hand back, and placed it on her leg just at the hem of her dress.

She started to lift my shirt, and only broke our kiss so she could lift it over my head. As soon as it was discarded of she pulled me back, but instead of ravishing her lips, I dipped my head, and placed butterfly kisses all over her neck and collarbone.

Her breathing got very ragged, and she let out a small moan. This enthused me, and I was quickly back at her mouth so our tongues could clash.

I lifted her slightly so I could unzip the back of her dress, but I didn't move it just yet. I wanted to make sure she was a hundred percent comfortable with where we were going.

I knew I shouldn't have worried when she started to unbuckle my jeans.

I looked at her questioningly; I knew she knew what I was asking. She smiled and nodded, then continued to remove any remaining clothing between us.

I leaned over to grab some protection from my bedside table, and when I came back I gave her a kiss I hoped would portray all of my whirlwind emotions, and show her just how much I loved her.

**--**

**A/N: Sorry I am going to end it there. I would love to hear any views you have on my story so far. Thanks. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, ect, are owned by me.

**All italic sentences are the wolves' thoughts to each other.**

**Chapter 3**

The sight that greeted me when I woke up was defiantly an image that I will always remember.

The most beautiful girl I have ever seen was lying in my bed, with her head on my chest.

All of last night events came back to me at once, and I felt my face break into a huge grin when I remembered just how perfect this angel in my arms was.

I started to trace my finger along the line of her neck, and collarbone. She had the softest skin I had ever felt.

I felt her starting to stir, so I withdrew my hand, I didn't want to wake her.

"Mmmm, don't stop." She mumbled, so I quickly returned to where I was.

"Good morning, do you know what the time is?" She asked without opening her eyes.

I craned my neck until I could see my clock,

"About 9:30, you should get some more sleep, you have had like 3 maybe 4 hours." I didn't want to let go of her yet, and she really did need some sleep.

"Nah, I won't be able to sleep anyway. Besides, I should head home before my mum calls the cops." She murmured, but I noticed that her eyes were still closed.

She took a deep breath, and pulled herself off of me, and out of bed. I felt strangely incomplete after she left my arms.

"Why don't we go out for breakfast or something?" I asked, silently begging God not to have her leave yet. Apparently God wasn't listening.

"Thanks, but I really do need to head home." She replied

"You can call your mum, so she doesn't worry." I suggested.

"She won't be worried, she is used to me not coming home if I got out. I don't like to wake her up so I usually stay at a friends place or something. Would you mind giving me a lift home please?" She had the cutest face when she asked this, her eyes went all big, and her lower lip stuck out slightly. I knew I would never be able to say no to that face.

"Of course." I got out of bed and threw and on the first pair of decent jeans I could see.

She finished getting dressed, and turned and gave me a smile. I couldn't help my self as I pulled her into me, and gave her a kiss.

We stood there for a minute making out, but it was nothing like our kisses last night. Last night was full of passion and need; this was much sweeter, and more loving.

She pulled away, and I led her out to my car. It was exactly new, but I did love my truck.

She gave me directions to her house, and I was surprised that I knew the place. Hell, everyone in La Push knew that house. It was the one building that wasn't a small, modest house. It was two storey, and had huge gardens that backed on to the forest.

For the first time I started to feel slightly ashamed of my truck, and my house.

She seemed to notice my discomfort, and looked slightly annoyed but she changed the subject, asking about my friends and school.

I pulled down the driveway, and parked just by her front door. Before she had a chance to get her seatbelt off, I was out of the car, and opening her door.

I walked her to the front door, and gave her a kiss good bye. She unlocked the door, and started to go in, before I called her back,

"Hey Kate" Come on Embry, it's now or never, I thought, "Be my girlfriend?"

"Aww, that's so cute." She replied with a small laugh. I felt my face fall, and tried not to show he this wasn't the response I was looking for.

"I mean, you're a great guy and everything." She paused, and I could feel a rejection coming.

"I really want to see you again, I'm just not really the 'boyfriend-girlfriend' type." She started to bit her lip, and I could see guilt written all over her face.

"Yeah, of course, I just thought I would ask. I guess I'll see you at school." I turned, and started to walk back to my truck. It was taking all of my self-control not to phase right there.

"Embry wait." I tuned to see her come after me.

"I meant what I said, I really do want to see you more, but lets just keep it casual, ok?" She asked me with that same pouting face. Of course I couldn't refuse her.

"Anything you want, princess." I told her. She smiled, and started to say something, before hesitating.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, it's just my mum is going to Seattle for work tonight, and I am not a huge fan of being home alone. It's just kinda depressing. Would you mind coming over for a movie night or something?" She asked this very quickly, and I wondered why she said depressing, I would have thought being home alone would be more scary then depressing.

"I'd love too, you provide the food, and I'll bring the movies." I told her, trying not to start jumping up and down in excitement.

"Shit there's no food in the house." She said, though I think it was more to herself then me.

"Ok, we'll swap." I said, I honestly didn't care, as long as I got to spend time with her.

"Thanks", she said, looking relieved, "I don't have the energy to go food shopping today."

"No problem, I'll come by later this afternoon." I gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Oh, and I am usually upstairs, so I can't hear the front door, just let yourself in." She gave me a quick wave and walked back into the house before I could respond. I was defiantly going to have to speak to her about locking the front door.

As I drove off, I realized I didn't know whether to feel pleased or not by this morning's events. Girls are so confusing.

I realized I needed to go for a run to clear my head, so I left my truck parked on the street and took off for the forest.

I phased, and started to run, but everything that had happened since I met Kate was playing over and over in my head, just like a movie.

Too late, I realized that both Paul and Leah were on patrol, and were incredibly amused by my thoughts.

_Denied! _Thought Paul, chuckling to himself.

_Only you could get rejected by your own imprint_. Leah thought.

_Do you mind? I am trying to figure this out. _I replied, trying to block out their thoughts, but failing miserably.

_Sam is gonna kill you when he finds out you carried her for over 20 minutes._ Leah told me

_Looks like he already knows. _Paul responded, _But if not, can I please be the one to tell him?_

I growled at him, but didn't respond. They were right he would kill me.

_Kim and Emily are going to have a field day when they find out that you finally asked a girl out, and she rejected you. _Leah said.

_How about I get to tell the pack about last night, all of it, and you get to tell them all about this morning? _Paul asked Leah. I growled at this, especially the 'all of it' comment. I knew he would not be afraid to give as many details as he wanted.

_Sounds good to me. _Leah told him, ignoring me.

_I think it is time we took a break. Don't you think Leah?_ Paul asked her, and with that they took of for Emily and Sam's house.

I threatened them as much as possible, but they kept ignoring me, so I took of for Sam and Emily's as fast as I could. Unfortunately, they were a lot closer then I was.

I ran into the kitchen to find everyone except Collin and Brady sitting around the kitchen, falling apart laughing.

"Look, I don't know how much these two told you but-" Paul cut me off,

"We told them everything."

"Everything?" I asked, hoping he had kept some details to himself.

"Yep. Everything." He paused for a second, "Well at least, as much as I could before the girls started protesting."

I noticed both Emily and Kim were blushing slightly, and not quite looking me in the eye. I growled a Paul.

Sam glared at me,

"We need to talk." He said, in his best alpha voice. "What were you thinking carrying her for that long, don't you think she is going to find it slightly strange that you didn't even break a sweat? And that is not to mention the gesture you gave me. I do not appreciate that in the slightest."

"I am so sorry Sam, I guess, I was just so busy thinking of Kate, that my mind wasn't thinking straight otherwise." I said, looking at the floor, hoping he would buy it.

To my, and the other pack members, surprise, he did.

"That's ok, I am just glad to see you growing up a bit." He said, giving me a pat on the back. Nice, from now on I would have to blame everything on being distracted by Kate. Although, that will probably be true from now on anyway.

"So, tell us about her." Emily said.

"Well, most of you already know her, but she is just amazing. She is so confident, and gorgeous and…" I searched for a word that was good enough to describe her, but couldn't think of any, so I left the sentence unfinished.

"You do realize that you have not only met your match, but you have imprinted on her." Jacob said.

"Yeah, she is pretty much you, but with boobs." Paul added, ducking out of the way as Emily tried to hit him for his language.

"Especially this morning, before she asked you over tonight, she practically gave you your own morning after speech." Leah added, causing the whole room to burst with laughter.

"About tonight, Emily, would you please be able to make a dinner I could take over there?" I asked, trying my best to look innocent.

"Fine, but I don't want you taking credit for it, otherwise she might be willing to eat one of your actual meals, and I like the sounds of this girl too much for her to die just yet." She said, causing another round of laughter in the kitchen. I poked my tongue out at her, but lifted her up into a bear hug anyway. Grateful she was so happy to cook.

We all sat around the kitchen eating lunch. I was pleased that the conversation had drifted away from me, so I was able to sit back, only half listening.

People started to go and do whatever they had planned, and before long it was just Emily and me left in the kitchen.

"Hey Em?" I asked, "Can I chat to you for a sec?"

"Of course you can. What's up?" She asked kindly, as she sat down across the table from me.

"Its just…I am guessing Leah told you all about this morning." I said, and she nodded in response.

"Well, last night was amazing, perfect even. So why wouldn't she go out with me? Is there something I did that I don't know about? Some sort of unwritten 'girl rule'?" I asked, looking at the table.

"Oh sweetheart, she wants to see you tonight, right? So you obviously did something right." She told me

"She could just really hate being home alone. Or it could just be a pity date or something." I replied, still looking at the table. I hate discussing my feelings, or anything else that could make me appear vulnerable.

"Maybe, but from what Leah said this morning, I don't think so. I think she really does like you, she just doesn't want to make anything official until she knows you a bit better. You did only meet her last night."

This made sense, and I started to feel a bit hopeful.

"Even if it is just a pity date once she gets to know you I am one hundred percent positive she will love you" She added, in that mothering voice of hers.

She reached across the table, and grabbed my hand.

"Trust me." She said, and I knew then that I did trust her.

"Thanks Emily, I really appreciate it. Also, would you mind not telling Sam, I don't really want the pack to know about our conversation." I told her as I stood up and pulled her into a bear hug.

"Of course. If you want to come back in about an hour and a half, I should have the dinner finished by then."

I thanked her again, and went back to my house. I decided to walk, as I knew Paul and Leah would be back on patrol by now, and I did not want their commentary.

After taking a shower and finding some clean clothes to wear, I started to head out the door when I realized I had another half hour before I needed to be at Emily's, so I drove to the shops to get some munchies for the movies.

After buying enough to feed a small army, or a ravenous werewolf, I drove over to pick up dinner.

After repeating all of the heating instructions, and promising I wouldn't try to 'improve' the meal in any way I was on my way to Kate's.

I gave a swift knock on the door, but nobody answered, so I walked in. I was unsurprised to see it was well decorated on the inside. All of the furniture looked simple, but still expensive. It was also neat, very neat, almost too neat. The only things out of places were the few boxes here and there, but they were still stacked tidily in the corners.

I heard voices coming from upstairs, and suddenly panicked. Had she invited other people too?

I ran up the stairs as fast as I could with out rising suspicion, and let out a huge sigh of relief.

Kate was lying on the couch, with a huge pink blanket over her, and in front of her was one of the biggest TVs I had ever seen, with an old episode of Friends playing.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that she was asleep.

She looked so incredible, exactly like a princess when she was sleeping. There was something different about her though. She looked vulnerable. For the first time since I had met her, she looked just like a 17 year old girl, who desperately wanted someone to take care of her.

I knew as soon as she woke up that would disappear, and she would turn back into that strong, confident woman I remembered. As much as I loved her confident side, it was nice to see that there was more underneath.

Crap, I thought. What do I do? Do I stand here, like a stalker and let her sleep, or do I wake her up?


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, ect, are owned by me.

**Chapter 4**

Crap, I thought. What do I do? Do I stand here, like a stalker and let her sleep, or do I wake her up?

I was standing at the top of the stairs still undecided when she woke on her own accord.

"What are you…What time is it?" She asked drearily, still regaining consciousness.

"It's early evening. You must have been pretty tired from last night I guess." I said.

"Yeah, and every other goddamn night." She muttered under her breath, looking away. I had only just heard it as a werewolf, so I am sure I wasn't supposed to.

"Do you want to go back to bed, we can do this another time?" I offered, though in my head I was begging her to refuse my offer.

"Nah, I should get up." She said, as she pushed her blanket to the floor and stretched. I was secretly cheering in my head.

"Plus, if you go back to bed now you won't be able to sleep tonight." I said, trying not to show my elation.

"Yeah I spose." She agreed, but there was something in her voice I couldn't pick up on.

"So I brought dinner, are you hungry, or do want to wake up a bit first?" I asked,

"Actually, I'm starving. Whatever you've brought smells great, did you make it?" She replied. I swore inwardly, I had promised Emily I wouldn't take credit for the meal, so I was hoping Kate would just assume I had cooked it.

"No, afraid not. My friend's fiancé was responsible for it. Although I will be the one to heat it up and that deserves some credit." I told jokingly.

"Did she give you directions to heat it up?" She asked, and upon seeing my sheepish face, burst out laughing.

"Come on, I'll show you the kitchen, and you can impress me with you amazing microwaving skills." As she walked past me I poked my tongue out at her. She let out another burst of laughter, and I realized there was nothing I wanted to do more, then to make her smile and laugh.

I followed her down the stairs, and toward the back of the house. Again the kitchen was state of the art, and looked as if it had never been used. She spun around, and lifted her self onto on of the benches,

"Well, go on, impress me." She said with a smirk, as if she didn't think I had ever done this before. Which, come to think of it, I hadn't. I mean, I have heated up a million frozen meals, but they have written instructions with them. Emily was very precise with her directions.

I did my best to do everything in the right order, and not screw up. While I worked Kate and I chatted about all of the gossip we had heard about the party last night.

Everything was almost ready when Kate suddenly paused mid-sentence.

"Shit!" She said, looking slightly guilty.

"Whats up?"

"I just remembered I said I would get movies for tonight, but I accidently fell asleep, so I didn't have a chance. And my sister took off with all of our DVDs in the move. The only thing we have here is Friends season 10." She told me.

"Good thing I like Friends then, and I haven't seen the tenth season yet." I said smiling at her. I secretly loved Friends. Joey was the best.

"You sure?" She asked, looking slightly upset.

"Absolutely." I didn't know how to explain that I couldn't care if we were watching the opera, as long as I was with her I would be happy.

I settled for going over to her, and giving her a hug. She wrapped her legs around my waist and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I slid my arms down her side and picked her up,

"Where are we eating Princess?" I asked, pleased to see her smile at her nick-name.

"Upstairs is probably easiest." She answered.

I carried her up to the couch, and was pleased to see she didn't even bother protesting this time. There was nothing I loved more then having her in my arms like this.

I placed her gently on the couch, and went to serve the dinner.

When I came upstairs I saw she had moved the coffee table into the middle of the room, and placed a massive pillow on either side.

She was sitting on one side of the table with her legs crossed, but jumped up to grab some of the stuff from me as I reached the top of the stairs.

We sat down and started to eat. I took a moment to silently thank Emily again as the food was absolutely amazing.

"So, what did you mean your sister took off with all your DVDs, can't you just steal them from her room?" I asked.

"She lives back in Forks with her sons. It doesn't stop her stealing all my stuff though." She said with a smile on her face. It was clear she didn't really mind.

"How old are her sons?" I asked. They can't be too old, as Kate was only 17 and I can't imagine her sister being much older.

"Jesse is 6 years old, and Michael is about 8 months." She told me.

"Really, how old is your sister?" I couldn't help noticing the way Kate's face lit up when she was talking about her sister. They must be very close.

"She is 23." Kate told me. 23 minus 6, that makes… 17. I silently did the math, but when I looked at Kate, I could tell she knew what I was doing from the look on her face. She looked slightly agitated, as if she gets asked way too much, slightly defensive, as if she thought I might be judgmental, and also slightly amused. I am guessing that is because of how predictable I was being.

"You two seem to be very close." I said, changing the subject slightly. I got the feeling this was a pretty touchy subject and I didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"She's my best friend." Kate told me, "So tell me about your family."

"Not much to tell, like I mentioned last night, I am an only child and live with my mum. But then again I have a bunch of friends, who are practically brothers to me."

"That's sweet." She said, "Is that like Jacob and Quil and Jared and all them?"

"Yeah, that's them. Jacob and Quil more then anyone. We grew up together."

"It's great that you are all still close. A lot of the friends I grew up with are all very different these days. I don't really have much in common with them anymore."

"I'm really grateful for the boys. They have made some things much easier to deal with." I told her. I really was.

"It's good that they are there for you, and they understand you." She said.

"It is good that they are there, but they don't always understand, not really." I don't know what made me tell her this, but I felt some how that she could relate. The guys think they understand some things, but they don't really. They can't, unless they have been in my position.

"It drives me crazy when people pretend to relate to you, when they really have no idea what you are going through." She said.

"I know what you mean. My father has never been around, and I always assumed that he was from the Makah rez, cause my mum moved down here from there when she was pregnant. Recently we found out that I am half Quileute, and now the only men who could be my father are all fathers of my friends, and were all married when my mum fell pregnant." I couldn't help telling her my family history. Even though I had never spoken about this to anyone, it felt right, telling her.

"Really, I can't imagine how awkward that must have made things." She said, sympathetically.

"Yeah, it was really strange for a while, but eventually we realized that there was nothing we could really do, so now we just try not to think about it."

"It is definitely easier ignoring things you don't want to think about." She said, with a far away look in her eyes.

"What are you ignoring?" I asked, realizing this conversation wasn't just about me anymore.

"Oh, you know, this and that. Nothing to special." She said, "Anyway, why don't we get started on friends. I'll take these plates down, if you can set up the DVD." She added, before I could probe any more. It was clear she didn't want to talk about herself, and I wasn't going to push it. I couldn't bear to see her upset.

I moved the coffee table back in front of the couch, and laid out all of the food I had bought earlier.

I also put in the first disc of the season; I figured we might as well start at the start.

After taking off my shoes, I leaned back on the couch, and put my feet up. The couch was big enough that I could have my legs out straight, and there was still enough space that Kate could sit at the other end if she didn't want to sit with me.

This worked perfectly, because I wanted to give her the opportunity to sit with me, but I didn't want her to feel forced.

She came up the stairs a minute later, and with out a second glance, she grabbed the remote and her blanket from earlier, before coming and sitting right in front of me, so her back was leaning against me.

I smiled, and leaned in to kiss her neck as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

She snuggled into me, and I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face. Having her in my arms like this just felt so right. She made me feel whole.

I hadn't seen a Friends episode in ages so it great to watch it again. The tenth season didn't seem quite as good, but that may have been because I was distracted by the beautiful angel in my arms.

My angel fell asleep again halfway through the second episode. Up closer I noticed she had dark circles under her eyes. I realized I hadn't noticed before because of her make up. I wondered what was keeping her awake, and why she couldn't sleep. She looks so beautiful when she sleeps.

I knew then that I didn't care how much I was paid out by the rest of the pack, or how many times she rejected me, as long as I could still hold her, then it would all be worth it.

**--**

**A/N: Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review, I appreciate it. I have also been asked about Kate's point of view in this story, but I have decided I will probably write that as a separate companion piece if enough people would be interested. I won't start to post that until this story is finished though. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, ect, are owned by me.

**Chapter 5**

I was pulled out of unconsciousness the next morning by feeling someone kiss my neck. I took a minute for me to figure out where I was, but as soon as I remembered last night, and realised who was responsible for waking me, my eyes shot open, and I was pleased to see Kate looking up at me.

I pulled her in for a proper kiss, and was amazed at how good she felt.

"That is one hell of an alarm clock." I told her. I could not think of a more perfect way to start the day. I noticed she had kicked off the blankets sometime in the night.

"Sorry about falling asleep last night." She told me.

"Don't worry about it, did you at least sleep well?" I asked, noticing she looked slightly less tired.

"Actually yes. That was the first time I have slept through the night since… a while." She answered, and I didn't miss her pause. I was burning with curiosity, but it was clear she wasn't going to tell me anytime soon.

"Well then we should celebrate." I told her before pulling her into a kiss.

I realised I like things a lot better when I was on top, so I rolled over, keeping a close hold on Kate, not wanting to break the kiss.

It wasn't until we landed on the floor that I remembered we were in the couch.

"Oh shit. Are you ok?" I asked, hoping I hadn't hurt her at all.

She laughed in response,

"I'm fine."

I didn't respond, I just went back to making out with her. I would never get over the feeling of our lips together, of our tongues clashing.

I slid my hands down her side and rested them on her hips, slightly underneath her top. She snaked her hands through my hair, and pulled me even closer.

Her hands started to glide down, until they were resting on the hem of my shirt. She broke the kiss just long enough to pull me shirt over my head.

I quickly replicated the action, so the was nothing between our upper halves except her lacy red bra.

She was tracing over my chest and stomach muscles when suddenly her phone started to ring.

She reached up to the coffee table to grab it, and after reading the caller id she swore.

"Oh shit!"

"Who is it?" I asked, but she didn't answer, she just picked up the call.

"Hey gorgeous, I am so sorry, I'm stuck in traffic." She said, she was silent for a second before she burst out laughing.

"Of course I didn't forget about you! I could never forget my girls." I smiled, relieved she wasn't talking to guy.

"Yeah, I'll be there asap…Ok, I'll see you soon honey." She hung up, and smiled apologetically up at me.

"You are way too good at lying. You know that?" I said

"Oh, I know." She smirked.

I leaned down to give her a quick kiss, and then got up, and pulled her up with me.

"I am so sorry about this, I completely forgot I promised to meet the girls." She called out as she walked towards a wooden door on the other side of the room.

"Don't worry about it, we'll take a rain check." I called back, as I pulled my shirt back on.

"Great. Sounds good." I heard from behind the closed door.

She came out a second later looking like a million dollars. She had her hair pulled back messily, and was wearing tight dark jeans, and a light pink top that showed off her gorgeous figure. She sat on the couch and pulled on a pair of very high, very pointy black boots.

"I've gotta run, but call me later?" She asked as she grabbed a black bag that was by the door.

"Wait one sec." I told her. I went up to her and picked her up. I could bear the thought of her falling down the stairs.

She laughed, and held on. She really loved it when I carried her.

As I took her down the stairs I realised I didn't remember seeing any other cars parked out the front.

"Where too?" I asked, and she pointed to a door just to the left of the stair well. As we got closer she opened the door, and revealed a stunning black convertible parked in the garage.

"Wow!" I said, slightly stunned.

"Yeah, that's my baby." She said, looking at it proudly.

"What happened there?" I asked, pointing toward a dent in the passenger door.

"I got in a fight with I pole." She told me seriously, "But don't tell my mother."

"Your secret's safe with me." I told her. She laughed, and threw her arms around my neck.

"So I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Afraid so." I kissed the top of her head.

She hit a button on the wall, and the garage door started to open.

With one last wave, I walked out, and climbed into my truck.

I let her pull out first, and was unsurprised to see her blast down the driveway with the top down, and music blaring.

I follow after her, and was almost home when my phone started to ring.

"Hello" I answered, not bothering to look at the caller id.

"Where the hell are you?" A voice came ringing out at me.

"Jake?" I asked, my thoughts were too clouded with Kate to put two and two together.

"Of course it's Jake. We are meant to have patrol together today, where are you?"

"Oh shit, I am so sorry I forgot. I am just on my way home from Kate's. I'll meet you in the forest in ten." At this statement, Jacob's tone changed.

"Kate's eh?" He asked.

"I'll fill you in soon." With this I hung up, and sped home. I quickly changed into just a pair of sweats, and left a note for my mum telling her I was on patrol. She always overreacted if I wasn't home, and wasn't answering my cell.

As soon I as I was in the cover of the trees, I took off my sweats and attached them to my leg before phasing.

_So, what exactly were you doing at Kate's __all night long?_ I heard the second I phased.

_It's not like that, we were watching TV and feel asleep. _I replied.

_Sure, Sure._ He said sarcastically.

I thought over last night to prove him he was wrong, but before I could stop myself, my thoughts started to wander back to this morning.

_She has great tits. _Jacob thought before he could stop himself.

I growled at him, and tackled him to the floor.

_I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. It just came out! _He begged, trying to avoid a full on fight.

_I had better not hear anything like that ever again. _I growled at him. How dare he speak about my princess like that?

The rest of the patrol was pretty uneventful as we just ran around checking the borders and making sure there were no threats.

We took a lunch break at Emily's. I was relieved to see that she was the only one home.

After answer all her questions about last night, and having her analyse every little thing either of us said, I found myself wondering if Kate and her friends were doing the exact same thing at the moment.

I asked Emily this and just laughed at me.

"Absolutely." She said.

Crap. What if her friends don't like the sound of me? I wish I knew where they were; I would love to know what she thought of me. I am usually really good at reading people, but Kate was impossible to read.

"I can't wait to meet her. You have to bring her around." Emily said.

"I'll try, it can be a bit intimidating meeting the whole pack though." I said, trying to put her off the idea.

"She already knows most of the boys from school, besides she doesn't sound like she is easily intimidated." Emily responded.

"Yeah, I guess, but still I don't want her to notice to much about us before I have the chance to tell her about me." I replied. Truthfully I was just scared she would say no. She was very adamant on keeping everything casual, and I didn't want her to think I was pushing her.

"When are you going to tell her, anyway?" Jacob asked.

"Not for a while. If she thinks just being by girlfriend is too serious, how do you think 'soul mate' will sound to her." I replied.

"That's true, from what I have heard, I think she would be more scared away by imprinting then the fact that you're a werewolf.

I didn't know what to say to that. I agreed completely. I have no idea why this girl was so against commitment. I thought teenage girls wanted nothing more then true love, and high school sweet hearts and all of that crap.

I decided a change of topic would be nice so I turn to Emily,

"How are the wedding plans going?" I asked.

She then delved into this long explanation about flowers, and colour schemes, and a few other things I didn't really understand.

Eventually Jacob and I realised we had to get back to patrols. We knew if Sam came home, he wouldn't be happy to know how long we had been here.

Ever since the Cullens left he has been much mellower. Only having two wolves on patrol at a time, which meant everyone had one weekend, and one weeknight shift. He tended to patrol on his own during school hours, which made it a lot easier on all of us. He also didn't mind us taking a quick meal break if we were patrolling.

Still I don't think he would be happy to know we had spent over an hour here.

We took off, and rechecked all of the borders. Much to Jacob's annoyance I couldn't stop think about Kate. Should I call her tonight, or is that too soon? Should I invite her over to Emily's one evening for dinner, or is that too forward? How do I greet her a school tomorrow? Is she going to want a kiss, or just a hug, or maybe she would prefer not have anyone know that we were…Then came my biggest question, what were we? We weren't dating, but we were defiantly more then friends.

Finally Jacob lost his patience, and ordered me to go back to Emily's house, and talk to her about it. I was surprised he was letting me off patrol early, but then I realised how much this must be hurting him.

I phased back as quickly as I could, so he wouldn't have to hear my thoughts any more. I ran back to Emily's, and was surprised to see Leah there.

I guess those two were finally going back to being friends. Although there was an unspoken rule that Sam and the wedding were not mentioned.

I guess it would be good to hear both of their perspectives, but this means that it was all going to get back to the pack.

Unfortunately I couldn't wait for Leah to leave, as Jacob had expressly said, 'talk to Emily as soon as you possibly can, so we don't have to keep dealing with it.'

They greeted me with surprise, but after I sat down, and told them all my questions and problems I saw them exchange a look that clearly said, 'I told you so.'

"What?" I asked.

"Oh it's nothing, we were just wondering earlier how long it would take before you came to one of us, or Kim, with all of these questions." Emily told me,

"How did you know?" I asked,

"Please Embry, you've never seen a girl more then twice in your life, and now you have found someone you want to spent the rest of your life with. Of course you have no idea how to handle it. And we didn't think even you would be stupid enough to ask one of the male pack members for advise on you love life." Leah responded. I was about to send back a retort when I realised that she was right.

"Ok, so what do I do?" I asked.

"Lets go through each question separately. Your first question was about how soon to call her, right?" Emily asked, and I nodded.

"I think, because you have seen her everyday since you met, and you will be seeing her tomorrow, I would call her tonight. That just comes off a bit desperate."

"You wanted to know if it is too forward to invite her over for a pack dinner, right?" Emily asked, but she continued before I could respond. "Don't make a big deal of it or anything, just say something like, 'I am going over to a friends place this evening, do you want to come?'"

I nodded, that sounded good. I did want the rest of the pack to meet her.

"As for school tomorrow, let her make the first move. Don't make it obvious, but if you see her first, quickly get distracted by something, and let her come up to you." Leah said.

"But if she knows that you saw her, don't just ignore her either." Emily added.

"If you just spend the whole tame walking into school looking for something in your bag, or texting someone, then you don't have to worry about that." Leah suggested.

"Ok, I can do that. Now, what exactly are we?" I asked, desperate hear the answer.

"That's easy. You're not dating, you're just seeing each other." Leah responded like she was talking to a five year old. Emily elbowed her, but I noticed Em holding back a smile.

"There is a difference?" I asked, needing clarification, even at the risk of sounding stupid.

"Duh." Leah said, and Emily jumped in to explain.

"Until a couple become official, they are just seeing each other. It when you are just fooling around. Being boyfriend/girlfriend mean you are actually together.

I decided to leave it there for the afternoon. My head was spinning from all of the directions, and rules I had to follow. How do girls know all this stuff? Is there a book out or something that I could get a copy of?

I happily accepted Emily's offer of dinner. Jacob came and joined us after he finished his patrol, but Leah left quickly after Sam arrived, so it ended up just being Emily, Sam, Jacob and myself.

After we had all finished, I decided I was going to take off. I phased, and on the way home, decided I would do a quick detour past Kate's place. It worked perfectly, as her house backed onto the forest, and her bedroom was at the back of the house.

As I got closer I saw her in her window, dancing around in her window, singing into a hairbrush. I thought girls only did that in the movies.

I stood there for a few minutes, mesmerised, until Quil and Jared's thoughts interrupted my own. Thankfully they had both imprinted, so they didn't have any comments like Jacobs.

After I had filled them in about our date, I ran back home, and phased back.

After dodging my mum, I went up to my room, and threw myself on the bed. I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop thinking of Kate, and that was not helping me sleep.

Finally, after tossing and turning for what felt like hours, I fell into a sleep filled with dreams of my princess.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, etc, are owned by me.

**Chapter 6**

Ok Embry, you can do this. I pepped my self up, as I sat in my truck in my driveway. I needed all the help I could get at this point.

Finally, I just took a deep breath, started the truck, and drove the short distance to La Push's school. I rarely drove to school, but I was raining this morning, and I didn't want al the time I had spent on my hair to be ruined.

I am ashamed to admit I had been like this all morning. I woke up early, excited at the prospect of seeing Kate again. I had spent ages choosing an outfit and doing my hair, in hopes of impressing her.

Everything the girls taught me yesterday has been playing over and over in my head, like some annoying pop song.

As soon as I pulled up I quickly scanned the car park but I couldn't see a black convertible.

After a subtle hair check in the rear view mirror, I hopped out, and quickly pulled out my phone, pretending to text Emily, so that I looked busy.

I headed in the direction of Jacob and the rest of the pack, trying hard not to run into anything, when I heard a car pulling into the car park with Chris Brown's _Forever_ blasting from the speakers.

Don't look, let her see you first, don't seem desperate, I kept telling my self. I felt like the biggest idiot, this is not who I really am. What is it about this girl that is so intimidating?

Suddenly I felt someone slap my ass. I spun round, ready to hit Jacob or whoever else thought it was funny to my angel looking up at me with a very cheeky smile.

"Good morning." She said.

"Good morning, Princess." I told her, loving the way it made her smile. I would say princess every second, if it meant she was always smiling.

An aroma hit me, and for the first time I noticed she had one of those travel mugs in her had. Coffee! I had missed mine the morning, too busy concentrating on my look.

Using my werewolf speed as much as I dared in public, I grabbed the mug, and took a drink.

"Oi! That's mine!" She said trying to grab it back. Luckily for me she wasn't tall enough. I was ecstatic to see she was giggling at the same time, so she wasn't too upset.

I took another drink, and this time the sweetness hit me.

"God, how much sugar is in this?" I asked, making a face. She just laughed even more, and finally told me,

"It's a vanilla latte." Oh. That explained it. Now she mentioned it, I could smell the vanilla.

"Where in La Push makes vanilla lattes?" I asked, I couldn't think of anywhere that even had an espresso machine. La Push just wasn't big on anything fancy.

"Sadly nowhere, when I found out we were moving to a place without a decent coffee shop, I quickly taught myself to make good coffee. I am way to addicted to caffeine." She answered, still reaching for her coffee.

I took one more sip and handed it back to her. A thrill went through me when I felt her fingers touch mine.

"Hey Embry, coming?" I heard called from across the school. I turned to see Jacob and Quil waiting by the door for me, I had first period with them.

"I'll see ya round." Kate told me, before tuning and walking in the opposite direction.

I was mesmerised by her walk, and it wasn't til Jacob threw a pinecone at my head that I even remembered they were waiting for me.

I jogged up to them, and put Jacob in a headlock. Quil pulled us apart and we ran to class, by now we were very late.

I sat through the class not paying any attention, just staring at the clock. Jacob and Quil were talking in the background, by I didn't really care to listen.

As soon as the bell rang, I jumped out of my seat, and headed to my next lesson. I had no idea what Kate's timetable was like, but in a school this size we were bound to have some classes together.

I was the third one in my English class and after dodging my teacher's not-so-funny jokes about how I was actually on time for once, I grabbed a seat in the back row.

Paul and Jared came in soon after me and came to sit next to me. After a lot of grumbles I managed to make Paul move so that there was a spare seat beside me. They both refused to tell me if Kate was in our class, and I didn't want to take any chances if she was.

I watched the clock intently, but my heart fell when Ms Mulligan started the lesson. I was too busy concentrating on my annoyance of having to go two hours to pay any attention to her lecture, so I turned her out all together.

My heart leapt when, ten minutes later, the classroom door opened. I saw my princess walk through, and it took all of my self-control not to start dancing in my seat.

"I am so sorry I am late, Ms Mulligan, I got a bit caught up." She said in one of the cutest voices I had ever heard.

"That's fine, sweetheart. Just take a seat." Ms Mulligan replied, leaving me stunned. She always had a go at me for being late, and I was never that late.

I was stunned for long though, as Kate came straight to sit next to me.

"Hey there." She whispered to me, as she took a seat.

"You really are a princess, do you know how many detentions I have gotten for being late to this very class?" I whispered back.

"It's not my fault people love me." She replied laughing. I would have thought anyone saying that would sound arrogant, but Kate pulled it off sounding cute.

"Embry, stop talking" Came a tense voice from the front.

"Kate was talking too." I replied, wondering if Kate really was favoured.

"Don't try and get others into trouble. Just because you were on time doesn't mean I can't still give you a detention!" She replied sounding even more irritated. I decided not to press my luck, and just fell silent.

Next to me, Kate, Paul and Jared were all erupting in silent laughter.

"It's really not my fault." Kate said, still laughing, when I poked my tongue out at her.

We were quiet for the rest of the class, but I kept sneaking glances at the goddess sitting next to me. I would never get enough of looking at her.

The lesson ended all to soon, and we again parted ways.

I didn't have any more classes with Kate until lunch, so I was excited to go. The pack found it way too funny to keep getting in my, so I ended up getting to lunch five minutes late.

When I entered the room I was shocked to hear screaming. I looked to the source to see Kate's friend Abby yelling something that was way too high for me to understand.

She was standing against one of the tables, facing a young girl. Kate was sitting on the table, next to her. I couldn't help notice how good her legs looked resting on the chair.

"What's going on?" I asked the nearest person. The whole cafeteria seemed to be watching.

"Some freshman spilled her soup on Abby's boots." He told me, not taking his eyes off Abby.

Even from a distance I saw Kate roll her eyes.

'Oh Abby, get over it." She interrupted her friend's rant.

"But-" Abby started, before being cut off again.

"Seriously, get over it." Kate responded, sounding bored. She turned her attention to the freshman; "I love your scarf, sweetie, where did you get it?" She asked it a kind voice.

"Uhh…Port Angeles." Came the very timid reply. If I weren't a werewolf I would have missed it.

"It's cute." She said, before turning her attention back to her lunch.

The freshman must have realised the conversation was over, as she stumbled back to her table, looking half miserable, and half pleased. I laughed when I saw her smooth out her scarf with a proud smile.

I looked back at Kate, and saw she was looking at me. She gave me a smile, and a wink, then went into a conversation with Abby about weekend plans or something

I stood there, mesmerized, until Jacob finally grabbed my arm, and pulled me towards the Pack's table.

"That Abby is such a bitch." I heard Kim complain.

"Yeah, I'm surprised she listened to Kate so quickly." I added. Abby wasn't the type of girl who listened to anyone.

"Of course, you weren't here last week." Kim replied. This confused me.

"What happened last week?" I asked

"Uhh…Kate came." Paul replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The whole school is obsessed with her." Jacob told me.

"More so then any other new student." Seth added.

"Yeah, all the girls are dying to be her, and all the guys can't wait to hook up with her." Jared said, before adding, "Except me and Quil of course."

Kim smiled at this, as did Quil, who, I was assuming, was picturing Claire.

"There are a lot of guys who are pretty pissed that she went home with you on Friday night." Jacob told me.

"Oh yeah, I heard that a lot too. They think since they were here all week, trying their best moves and you were on the other side of the country, that you don't deserve her." Paul told me, trying not to laugh.

"Really?" This surprised me; I hadn't heard anything about that. As a werewolf you tend to be pretty good at knowing when someone is talking about you.

"Please. You didn't even notice when Jake and I were talking about you in first lesson, and we were right next to you." Quil said, causing the table to erupt in laughter.

Unfortunately I couldn't deny it, so I just concentrated on my food, until the conversation shifted direction.

I was in my own little 'Kate world' when Jake got up suddenly, and went to sit on the other side of the table.

"What are you-" I started to ask, before I cut myself off when someone who was defiantly not a werewolf slid in next to me.

"What do you have next?" Kate asked me, and I noticed the rest of the table went silent.

"Um… Maths." It took a moment for me to remember when she was sitting right there. I hope she didn't think I was an idiot.

"Cool, me too." She said with a smile. She leaned in, and grabbed a piece of chocolate from me.

"Hey!" I started to object, but she just popped it in her mouth.

"You drink my coffee, I eat you chocolate. It's only fair." She said.

"I guess." I grumbled.

She started to get up, but turned around to face me once more.

"I might be a few minutes late, but save me a seat." She said, before heading back to her table.

Once she was gone, the conversation started again.

"She always gets the last word, doesn't she?" Jake asked, laughing.

"That girl must have courage, to steal chocolate from you." Seth said, causing even more laughter.

Thankfully the bell rang, so I jumped up, and started heading towards my locker.

After grabbing my books I headed off to my maths class. This was the one subject that I didn't have with any other pack members, and for once I was pleased about it.

I took the seat in one of the back corners, so we would have a chance to talk.

Just like before, Kate walked in about ten minutes late. She mouthed sorry to the teacher, so she wouldn't interrupt his lecture, but her just gave her a smile, and motioned toward the seats. I couldn't help but shake my head at her. This girl could get away with murder!

"It's not my fault, I swear!" She whispered, as she sat next to me.

"Sure, sure" I responded.

"What are we meant to be doing?" She asked.

I filled her in on what she missed, and asked why she was so late. She just shrugged,

"I was chatting to Candice." She told me.

"And that was more important then distracting me from my math work?" I asked her, teasingly.

"Nothing more important then you Embry." She said, teasing me back. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Good, that's the way it's supposed to be." I told her. She just laughed.

We were silent for a minute before I finally worked up the courage to ask her about coming to Emily's.

"Hey, me and a few friends are thinking about getting together for dinner tonight, do you wanna come?" I asked, trying my best to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, sorry, I can't. I'm having dinner at my sisters. Next time?" She said, looking slightly guilty.

"Yeah, course. We do it all the time, so whenever you're free." I responded, still trying to sound causal about it.

"How about tomorrow? Wait, no sorry have plans then too. Wednesday?" She asked.

"Wednesday it is." I answered. This time sounding more excited then I would have liked.

The rest of the class passed quickly, with the occasional comment about the work we were supposed to be doing.

Too soon, the bell rang, and it was time for next lesson.

"What do you have now?" I asked, hoping she had art too.

"Art, I think. You?" She told me.

"The same." I told her, as I opened the door for her.

As we walked in the direction of the lockers, Kate started telling me about her day yesterday.

"I feel so bad about forgetting. I was meant to spend the day with all my Forks friends, and they were convinced that I would have time for them after I moved. I could never do that to them, though."

"Wait, you were meeting in Forks?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" She said, sounding a bit confused.

"How the hell did they buy that you were stuck in traffic?" I asked, before we both started laughing.

"Being on time is not my specialty, they are kinda used to it I think. Alyce decided a while ago that she wouldn't show til about ten minutes after we agreed to meet." She said.

"I know what you mean. My friends have decided if I am late anymore, then they will leave without me." I told her.

By this time we both had our book and stuff ready. We were about to head in the direction of the classroom when Candice and Jessica came up.

They quickly got into a detailed conversation about shoes that I tuned out. I spent the time watching Kate out of the corner of my eye, trying not to make it obvious that I was staring at her.

I think Jess caught on, as she gave me a few odd looks, but Kate didn't seem to notice, and that is all I cared about it.

Finally Jess realised the time, and they went their separate ways.

I let Kate go into the art room first, figuring it couldn't hurt my chances.

"Hi Ms Hall. We are so sorry we're late." She said, and my heart gave a small jump when she said 'We'.

"Of course you are. We are just working on our projects today, so grab a seat. If you have any questions just let me know." She replied.

We walked into the room, and I was pleased when Kate headed straight toward the Pack's desk. She sat down next to Jake, and I sat on her other side.

Almost the whole pack was in this class. All of the seniors, including Kim, and Seth, who was taking senior level art too.

The class went quickly with a lot of banter. I was ecstatic to see how well Kate fit in. It wasn't a surprise, but it was nice to be sure.

By the end of the day, Kate and Kim had a shopping trip planned, and Kim mentioned something about bringing friends, so I think Emily and Leah were going to meet Kate anyway.

Art was the last lesson, so I walked Kate out to her car afterward. She gave me a hug good bye, as she said,

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Princess." I replied. She took off a minute later, and I stood watching her zoom out of the car park.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, etc are owned by me.

**Chapter 7**

I swung by Emily's on the way home, to let her know Kate would be coming on Wednesday, and she was so excited. I snagged a snack there, and headed home. As soon as I was in the door I went up to my room and collapsed on the bed, falling into another round of Kate-filled dreams. The last few days had been exhausting, and I felt drained.

The next thing I knew the sun was just starting to rise. I rolled over to see that is was just after five am. Great. No one should be up at this time, yet here I was, wide-awake. What am I supposed to do with myself before school?

I decided to go for a run. I could release some of my pent up energy, and check on Kate the same time.

As I phased I took a moment to enjoy it. As painful as the transformation looked, it just felt liberating. The stretching of muscle, shifting of bone and explosion of fur made me feel as if I were truly free.

It didn't take long for my paws to cover the ground to Kate's, and luckily for me she had left her bedroom curtain open. I wanted nothing more then to see her, peaceful and sleeping, just to know she's ok.

What? Her bed is empty, where on earth could she be? I can't smell a vampire, but what if they found a way around the scent thing. There isn't a heartbeat in the house, none! What is something happened?

_Jesus Christ Embry, calm down._

I heard Brady's voice in my head, and I realized I wasn't alone.

_Can't you smell her at all?_

I was suddenly reminded of the easiest way of finding her, and instantly felt like an idiot. Where was that beautiful scent, which I could pick over anything else? Her scent was truly unique; it was sweet, with a slight floral undertone.

I could only pick it up lightly where I was, so I trotted around to the other side if the house.

Yes! She had been here recently, about ten minutes ago. I quickly follow the path, and it led down the road. Luckily for me, it followed along the edge of the forest, so I could stay to just the side of the path without being noticed.

I followed her scent around a corner, and suddenly saw her up ahead, jogging along the path.

I felt my heart leap when the sight of her entered my vision. A weight that I didn't realize was on my shoulders had lifted, as soon as I knew she was ok, and the knot in my stomach untied itself at the sight of her perfect form, unharmed.

I jogged along side of her, keeping in the forest.

Without realizing I was getting closer and closer to the road, and I lost my cover.

"Holy shit!" I tuned and saw she had stopped running, and was staring at me in shock.

I did my best to look as non-threatening as possible, and lowered my head so it was below her shoulder.

Looking at her in the eyes I tried to seem as peaceful as possible, and ignore the chants of _Sam's gonna kill you_ that were in the back of my min from Brady.

"What are you? Since when do wolves come this big?" She asked, still not moving. I cocked my head to the side, and tried to show her I could understand her.

"You haven't killed me yet, does this mean you aren't going to?" She asked again, not sounding completely sure of herself.

I couldn't help myself, I licked her face.

She jumped back laughing.

"What are you doing? My old dog Honey used to do that, maybe I should call you Honey." She said, wiping her face.

I heard Brady pissing himself laughing in the back of my mind, but tried to ignore it.

"Oh God, I'm going crazy. Who sees a horse-sized wolf, and doesn't run away? Why aren't I scared of you?" She said, looking into my eyes.

I had no idea what it was, but I remembered Jake said the same thing happened with Bella before she found out about him. She looked him in the eyes, and though of Jacob.

I gave her another lick, and she wacked my muzzle away this time.

"Coming for a run, Honey?" She asked, before going back to jogging down the street.

In the back of my mind I saw Brady trip over a tree root from laughing at her calling me Honey again. I tried to threaten him to keep it to himself, but I knew the next time anyone phased they would find out anyway, so there was no point.

I would never live this down.

I realized Kate was already slightly down the street, so I quickly caught up with her, and ducked into the outskirts of the forest, where I knew she could see me, but it would be harder for anyone else to notice.

If I thought running was one of the best experiences, it was nothing compared to running with Kate. It was simply liberating.

We had to keep at a slower pace then what I was used too, as her legs are a hell of a lot shorter then mine, but I didn't care.

Eventually she got too close to the town, and I couldn't go any further.

I would be lucky if Sam let me live after he found out Kate saw me. If anyone else saw me I would have no hope of surviving.

I whined, and caught her attention; she stopped and turned to face me.

I gave her another lick on the face before turning into the forest and running away.

"Stupid wolf, can't keep its tongue to itself." I heard from behind me, and I couldn't help but laugh.

I noticed Bray was still enjoying the show,

_So what is it going to take for you to keep the 'Honey' thing quiet?_ I asked him

_Haha, Nothing is going to keep that from getting out. Especially since you won't be around much longer, we will have to make the most of it while we can. _He responded, still holding back laughter.

_What do you mean I won't be around much longer?_

_Sam._

_Shit._

Up until then I had forgotten about Sam, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided I was screwed.

I phased back, and pulled on a pair of sweats before heading home and having a shower.

I heard a howl in the forest, and could tell Sam was calling.

I couldn't bring my self to face him, so quickly threw on some clothes, and went straight to school.

I was much earlier then usual, but I didn't care. Hopefully school would keep me safe for a little while.

Sam was so insistent on us being at school unless it was a dire emergency that I didn't think he would pull me out of school just for a lecture.

I sat in my car for a while, reminiscing over my run with Kate. It really was amazing.

My happy dreamings were interrupted by a knock on the window. I looked out to see Jake and Quil, so I grabbed my bag, and got out to say hi.

"Sam is pissed!" Were Jake's first words to me.

"How do you know?" I asked, trying not to think about what was in store for me.

"We all answered his call this morning, but it wasn't any of us he was calling." Quil answered with a smug look.

"Is he really that pissed off?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"Yup." Was Jake's reply.

"But don't worry, he doesn't plan get you out of school, so you have all day to come up with a good excuse." Quil added.

"Yeah, but it better be fucking good." Jake added.

"I'm screwed, aren't I?"

"Yup." Jake repeated.

"Thanks so much for you support." I told him sarcastically, before walking in the direction of my first class.

I caught Kate's eye on the way, and she gave me a wave. This immediately lifted my spirits, and I realized that I no matter what Sam's punishment was, or how long his lecture went, I wouldn't take back our run this morning.

If Kate hadn't seen me, then I wouldn't have known she didn't fear me and knowing that was worth any punishment.

I have never known first lesson to go so slowly. I swear, at on point the clock was going backward.

When I asked Quil and Jake this they just laughed at me.

It was almost the end of the lesson when I remembered,

"Hey, did Sam mention anything else about this morning, other then she saw me?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"What do you mean?" Jake paused, and I let out a sigh of relief, "Honey?"

They both burst into laughter, and I felt my face start to heat up.

"And the whole pack was there?" I asked

"Yup."

Great, just great. I will never hear the end of this, I'm sure.

Suddenly the bell rang, all my embarrassment had distracted me from clock-watching, and now I had a lesson with Kate.

I was about to sprint to my next class when I remembered that she would probably be late anyway. I didn't want to look like a geek either, so I detoured by my locker, before heading to the room.

I was still one of the first people in the room, but I didn't care.

Jared and Paul walked in a minute later, and sat on either side of me.

I growled at them, but they just laughed.

"Is something wrong, Honey?" Paul asked.

They both erupted in laughter, so I kept punching his arm until he got up and sat next to Jared.

For once he didn't even bother hitting back, he was to busy laughing.

Finally, after what felt like forever they calm down. Unfortunately they then started discussing the many ways in which Sam was going to kill me.

I was even more grateful then usual when Kate walked in, because not only did I get to see her, but the boys where forced to stop their conversation.

"Hey, Hon, How are you?" She asked as she sat down.

This was the wrong thing to say, as the imbeciles next to me burst out laughing again. I think by this point Jared even had tears running down his face.

"What's going on with those two?" She asked.

"You don't want to know." I replied, before giving them both a hit over the back of the head.

Halfway through the lesson I heard her phone buzz. Jared and Paul heard it too, but we are getting at pretending not to hear things we aren't supposed to.

I heard Kate curse under her breath, and I couldn't help but ask if she was ok.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I have to take off, but I'll see you later."

"Take off where?" I asked, but she was already talking to the teacher before I had finished speaking.

I heard her say that she was feeling really sick, and the teacher let her go without a question.

"What's going on?" Jared asked under his breath, so only Paul and I could hear him.

"I have no idea. Do you think she's ok?" I whispered back.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's fine. Candice is probably having a hair emergency or something." Paul responded. Jared laughed at this, but I was too concerned to find it funny.

"Maybe I should go after her." I said, more to myself then the boys.

"I'd say you're in enough trouble with Sam with skipping school too."

"Yeah, I guess." I responded.

The lesson ended soon, and I spent my next two lessons staring at the clock again, counting down the seconds until lunch, when I would hopefully see Kate.

As soon as the lunch bell rang I went straight to the cafeteria without bothering to drop my stuff of at the locker.

She wasn't there.

Maybe she's just late, I mean she is always late.

Slowly the cafeteria filled up but there was no sign of my angel.

"I just went past the car park, and her car is gone." Jared told me.

I heard him filling in everyone else on what had happened, but I was to worried to focus on what he was saying.

"Screw Sam, I'm going to go find her." I announced, and stood up.

"Dude, why don't you just text her?" Seth asked.

How stupid am I? Why did I not think of that before?

I grabbed my phone and quickly started to text her.

'Hey princess, where r u?'

As soon as I hit send, I waited anxiously for a response.

The pack had to remind me a few times that she doesn't have werewolf reflexes to text back with.

After what felt like a lifetime, my phone buzzed.

'Hey, just have to take care of some stuff. C u 2moro. xoxo'

Stuff? What sort of stuff?

I spent the rest of the day either trying to figure out what she was doing, or celebrating her 'xoxo' at the end of the message.

Needless to say I was pretty much in daze, and the pack soon learnt not to bother trying to start a conversation with me.

Walking out to my car I was still mulling over her text when a sight quickly brought me back to earth.

Sam was leaning against my car.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, etc are owned by me.

**Chapter 8**

Getting through the first half of Sam's lecture wasn't too bad. I just focused on the ground and thought more about Kate.

Unfortunately I forgot to nod, or throw in a quick sorry for a while. He soon figured out what I was doing.

It was then he ordered me to phase, so he could be sure I was listening.

After telling Paul and Collin to take a break, and then ordering Paul cause he wanted to hear Sam tell me off, Sam turned to face me.

I could hear a number of different punishments going through his mind, I wasn't until I saw him thinking of banning me from seeing Kate that I yelped out.

_Do you have any idea how stupid you were this morning? _He directed his thoughts to me.

_I didn't mean to. I thought I was in deep enough; the trees must have thinned out as we got further along._

He knew I was lying. The forests are all practically identical. We both knew if I was deep enough into the forest at one part, then I was pretty much guaranteed to be for almost all of the forest in La Push and Forks.

He decided it wasn't even worth acknowledging.

_In my defense, I really did believe that she couldn't see me until too late_ I added in.

This was the truth, and I played back this morning to him from my perspective, filling his mind with all of my emotions from the morning, the joy, relief, and just the pure enjoyment.

_That's great Embry, but it doesn't change the fact that she saw you, and anyone else could have too. The last thing we need is a group of hunters out in the wood searching for giant wolves. _

As he continued on about how the secret of the pack comes before any little run with a girl, I tried my best to listen, but I could help that my mind kept wandering back to Kate.

After about the fifth time of wondering where she was, and Sam nearly attacking me in frustration, he gave up.

_I think we have both had enough for today. But you can run patrols every night for a week, and you are not to let Kate see you in wolf form until she knows about us._

I felt the Alpha's command come in for the last part of his statement, and struggled to keep on my feet.

He phased back, and as he pulled on his shorts he told me,

"Go get some sleep, you're going to need it."

He took of at a jog back to his place and I start to walk back to my truck. I contemplated staying in wolf form, but I realized Paul and Collin would be phasing back soon to finish off their after school check, and I din not want to deal with Paul right now, so I phased back.

With Friday, Saturday and Sunday all covered on the weekend roster, there were only 4 weeknights that need patrolling. As Sam didn't patrol at nights, and there were 9 of us left to cover 4 nights, so Jake, Quil and I got to patrol together.

Luckily for me we patrolled Tuesdays, so I was out tonight anyway.

He also go us to take a half hour shift and do a quick border check after school, so the night shift wouldn't have to start until after dinner.

I was definitely going to take advantage of this. As soon as I got home I went straight to bed, and set my alarm for a few hours later, so I would have just enough time to eat something before my shift started.

I woke us dazed and disorientated, it took me a few a minutes to remember this afternoons events.

They all came rushing back to me, and I almost fell out of bed when I remembered Sam's order. I was pretty pissed about that, I had been hoping to make my jog with Kate a regular thing.

I guess this gives me more motivation to tell her the truth, but I was putting that off as much as possible.

I checked out the kitchen, and found a note from Mum telling me she would be out all night, so I scribbled a reply to her on the back, and put it on the table.

Of course I could find any decent food in the house, so I decided to make a quick trip to Emily's to see what I could scab from there.

Quil and Jake were both there before our shift, so it worked out kind of perfectly.

After she served us she started to get some desert ready, but she paused suddenly.

"Oh Embry, Sam agreed that it was fair to punish me by not letting me meet Kate, so you don't have to start patrol tomorrow night until after out dinner. Right Sam?" She asked the last part just as he walked in the doorway.

"Whatever you say, love." He answered with a smile.

"Whipped" Jake pretended to cough before receiving a slap over the back of his head.

"You want to be running patrols with your buddy here for the next week?" He asked, while Quil and I tried our best not to laugh.

"Yeah, I think I'm done with dinner, Em, Quil? Let go." Jake announced, before pulling us out the door.

Quil tried to object, but he was no match for Jake.

We got into the forest, and phased.

_Hey, I wasn't done eating!_ Was Quil's first thought.

_Thanks for getting us out of there, I think I would have a got a hernia from trying not to laugh at his face when he heard that. _I told him, as I heard the coughing laugh come from the three of us.

_Before we start patrolling, do you mind if we take a quick run past Kate's, I want to see if she is home yet. _

After some objections from Jake, we took off.

Running past her house, it was easy to tell no-one was home.

I immediately started to worry, but the guys tried to calm me down.

A couple of hours later, I had frustrated them both so much, that they told me to go check on her.

She still wasn't home. Where the hell was she?

I started running laps around her house; before I knew it I had worn a path through the forest.

As the night wore on I grew more and more tired. My run slowed to a jog, then a walk.

Wait. What was that?

My ears pricked up, as I heard a noise in the distance. A car, not just any car, but a car with loud music blasting.

My eyes flew to the clock I could see through the window, it was just past 2am.

Where the hell has she been?

A minute later her convertible came flying down the drive.

See her made me feel so much better and as much as I was trying to block them out, I could tell Jake and Quil were pleased too.

Quil because he could understand what I was feeling when I was worried about an imprint and Jake because he really didn't want to be running with me when I was worried about Kate.

I walked around to the back of her house, where I could see her room.

I lay down, and waited to see her come upstairs, then almost had a heat attack when the back door opened.

My angel was standing in the doorway, bathed in light. She really was the most stunning woman in existence. She was truly divine.

She sat down on one of the steps on the back porch and let out a sigh. The poor thing, she looked so sad, it was breaking my heart to see her like that.

I tried to go to her, but with every step I took Sam's order echoed in my head, getting louder and louder until I couldn't move another inch.

My shoulders fell to the floor, and I was forced to watch from ground, as a tear rolled down my princess' face.

I could hear Jake growling in the back of my mind, he hated Sam giving orders more then the rest of us.

Kate let out a sigh, and she grabbed a lighter and a cigarette out from her bra.

_What? Kate smokes? _Both of the guys were thinking along the same lines as me, we had never picked up the scent on her, and it took a lot to get something past us.

She sat there quietly for ten minutes, and the whole time my heart was breaking.

I wanted nothing more then to go to her, comfort her, let her know she isn't alone, she never has to be alone again.

I have never been more pissed of at someone then I was with Sam right now.

Eventually she put out the fag and headed back in the house. Not long after she was pulling on some trackies and heading into bed.

After she was sleeping, she looked so peaceful…so beautiful.

_Dude, wake up. _

Huh?

_C'mon, it's morning. Wake up_

Shit, it is morning. I was asleep on the forest floor out the back of Kate's house, and Quil was nudging my shoulder, trying to wake me up.

I stood up, and stretched out. My neck was gonna be caning all day, but it was worth it. Know I spent the night close to Kate.

I looked up to her bedroom, to see if she was awake yet, but it was empty.

_Where is she?_ I asked Quil

_No idea, she took off about a half hour ago. We decided to let you sleep. You seemed pretty tired. _

_Thanks, what time is it?_

_It's time you got your ass up. School starts in 10._ Jake added in, just before phasing back.

Shit. I was never gonna make it on time, not if I wanted a proper breakfast. Which I did, there was nothing worse then going to school on an empty stomach, especially an empty werewolf stomach.

_Go and get dressed, I'll swing by Emily's and see if she has any leftovers for you. _

_Thanks man, you are a legend._

_Oh, I know. _ He let out a coughing laugh, and took off for Emily's.

I headed home, and pulled on the first pair of decent pants I could, and a half clean shirt.

I took off down the stairs, noticing on the way that Mum hadn't been home.

Wonderful. She must have a new boyfriend, just what I need right now.

I didn't have time to dwell on this though, so I bolted out the door to see Quil leaning up against my truck, with a mug of coffee in one hand, and a plate with a huge stack on pancakes on it in the other.

"You are my idol. An absolute lifesaver." I told him, grabbing the food.

"C'mon, you eat, I'll drive." He said and walked over to his ute.

I climbed in, and eagerly stuffed my face with the delicious food that was in front of me.

We managed to make only five minutes after the late bell, and my heart fell when I noticed there was no little black convertible in the student car park.

"Relax, she is probably just later then us, she'll be here." Quil said, without me even having to say anything.

Even in the pack, Jake, Quil and I were the closest of everyone. We didn't need to be in wolf form to know what is going through the others minds.

We tried to sneak into first lesson, but the teacher quickly noticed us, and took the time out to tell us exactly why a lack of punctuality would be the reason we never accomplished anything in life.

Jake sat there smirking the whole time, and as soon as she looked away I gave him a swift punch to the arm.

The lesson passed by, and before I knew it, I was racing off to second lesson, hoping against hope that Kate had arrived.

Thankfully Paul seemed to have gotten the message, and he went straight to sit next to Jared.

The teacher started, and she still wasn't there, although I wasn't surprised.

Ten minutes later…no sign. Fifteen minutes…still no Kate.

I gave up, and rest my head in my arms.

What was going on with this girl? God, I hope she's ok.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the lesson I heard the door open. I lifted my head, and was again stunned at the beauty of my angel.

She gave a small sheepish smile, and slid into her seat.

"Is this an all time record for you?" I asked, trying to wipe the pathetic smile off my face.

"No, I've been later." She replied, poking her tongue out at me.

"Where were you?" I asked, as my curiosity got the better of me.

"I met some friends for breakfast in Forks." She said casually, as if it were a normal thing. Actually with her, it probably was.

I mean why not go out for breakfast on a Wednesday morning?

Hey, maybe I should take her out for breakfast. I made a mental note to remind myself to ask her out for a quick bite one morning.

"So where were you yesterday?" I asked, again, I hadn't meant to, but I just had to know.

"Here and there, just had to take care of some stuff." She flashed me a killed smile, and for a second I couldn't even remember my name, let alone the discussion we were having.

Take care of some stuff? Isn't that almost exactly what she told me yesterday?

I decided she would tell me in her own time, so I didn't push the matter.

The lesson flew by after that, and so did the rest day.

Before I knew it, we had walked out to the parking lot, and she turned around to face me,

"So, we're still on for dinner tonight, yeah?" She asked.

"Yeah, absolutely. I'll pick you up at 6." I told her. I had completely forgotten about Emily's dinner, thank God she reminded me.

"Great, I'll see you then." She stood up on her tip-toes and gave me a kiss on the cheek before walking over to her car.

Now I couldn't wait until 6pm.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, etc are owned by me.

**Chapter 9**

I contemplated calling Jake or Quil to ask them what I should wear for dinner at Emily's, but I decided it wasn't worth the inevitable teasing that would follow.

I settled on a pair of old jeans and a tight t-shirt. It was casual, but still showed off my muscles.

God, I sound like a chick.

As I headed toward my truck, I was shocked to notice the sun was out. I smiled, as much as I am used to the constant rain, nothing beats the sun.

I decided to make the most of it, and walk to Kate's. It wasn't too far, not that anything in La Push is far from anything else, and her house was even closer to Sam and Emily's.

In my excitement to get there, I ended up jogging most of the way, which of course made me five minutes early, but I didn't mind too much.

I gave a swift knock on the door, but no one answered so I let myself in. I made a mental note to discuss security with Kate, not that La Push has a huge crime rate, or a crime rate at all really.

I climbed the stairs, and walked into the sitting room there.

Just as I walked through the doorway, Kate entered from her bedroom.

She was wearing a pair of tight dark jeans, and a black bra. Otherwise she was topless, and I have to say I was definitely enjoying the view.

"You're early!" She said, though to her credit, she didn't appear the least bit embarrassed.

"No Sweetheart, this is what being on time looks like." I joked back; trying to play off the fact that I was so eager to see her I ended up early.

She poked her tongue out at me, and came and gave me a hug, and a swift kiss on the cheek.

"Well it is a good thing you're here, you can help me pick a top." With this she grabbed my hand, pulled me towards her bedroom, and sat me down on the bed.

As she disappeared through another door, which I assume was her wardrobe; I took the time to look around her bedroom.

It was amazing how different it looked from inside. Outside, because I was so low down I could only just see the head of her bed, which was pushed up against the far wall from the window.

The room was a lot less…girly then I thought it would be. It was elegant. There were plain cream walls, with a gold carpet and gold cornicing.

She had a huge mirror on the wall to my left, which had a black iron frame with a string of fake pink roses wound through it. She also had a bunch of photos stuck around the outside of the mirror. There were heaps of different people in the photos, but there were a lot of her and a blonde girl who looked very similar to my angel, though not nearly as perfect. I'm guessing this was her sister.

Against the opposite wall there was a black iron framed dressing table, with about a billion different products on there, that I couldn't even name past the three different hairbrushes.

Most of the floor was covered in different clothes and shoes; I thanked God she wasn't a neat freak.

She came out of the wardrobe with an armful of clothes, which she put on the bed next to me.

"Ok, I have absolutely no idea what to wear." She said, and I smiled at the thought that at least I wasn't the only one.

"Well, it is going to be pretty casual, so something you're comfortable in." I told her, and she started looking through the pile.

"How about this?" She asked, holding up a black top. She pulled it on, and did a little spin for me.

"You look gorgeous, but it might be to much for the pa- for my friends." I told her, truthfully she looked amazing, but it was pretty low cut, and I didn't want her wearing anything low cut around anyone but me.

She pulled a red top from the pile and put it on. I was just a plain tank top, but she looked great in red.

"Perfect" I said as I pulled her close to me, "Although I think I preferred you with no top at all." I whispered, trying to sound sexy.

It must have work, as she straddled my lap, and started to kiss me.

God, she truly is an amazing kisser.

I broke off for a second so we could both catch our breaths, and picked her up and lay her on the bed.

My mouth quickly found hers again, as my body pressed up against hers.

I started to kiss her neck and collarbone when my eyes caught the clock on her bedside table.

"Shit, we're late." I said, annoyed that we never seem to be able to finish what we start.

"We can't just be a little bit later?" She asked. I considered it for a second, but I knew how excited Emily was to meet her. Emily loved meeting imprints, because she knew that they would be spending a lot of time together.

"Trust me, I really, really wish we could be." I told her, hating having to deny her anything.

"Alright, let's go." She said, sounding resigned.

I grabbed her hand, and pulled her up with me, before leading her out the door.

"I hope you don't mind, but since it had become such a beautiful day, I thought we would walk." I told her as we headed out the door.

"That sounds great, I can't believe the sun is actually here. We should definitely make the most of it." She replied.

We walked to Emily's in a comfortable silence, holding hands. Occasionally one of us would ask a simple question, but otherwise we were just quiet.

It was nice, normally when I am with Kate, everything is just a whirlwind, so it was nice to just take some time being together.

We arrived at Emily's about ten minutes later, and I opened the door, leading her in.

Emily instantly gave her a huge hug, and I noticed that Kate did a slight double take when she saw Emily's face, but no one other than me knew her well enough to notice.

They exchanged warm greetings, and Emily led us into the kitchen, where everyone was gathered. She knew almost everyone except Leah, Kim and Sam, so the introductions didn't take long.

I noticed her and Leah both give each other a once over before Leah turned backed to whatever she was cooking. I was suddenly worried about how those two would get on, I knew Kate wouldn't just take Leah's crap, so if anything happened between those two, it would be World War III.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Kate asked, and Emily quickly gave her a job.

She elbowed me in the side, and I looked down at her,

"What?" I asked

"Offer to help" She said, as if it were obvious.

Leah turned around to watch us with a smirk on her face.

"No, that's ok. With his, and all these boy's culinary skills the most help they can be is to keep out of the way." Emily interjected

"Ok, well we'll cook, and you boys can clean up." She said, walking over to the bench.

Brady almost fell off his chair, and Paul started to choke on the juice he was drinking.

"What…but…hang on." Collin started to object, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Where I come from, the cook doesn't clean up." Kate said, and Leah let out a full-blown laugh.

"That sounds fair to me." She said, and I knew she liked Kate a hell of a lot more now.

Kim and Emily were both trying to hold back smiles, and Paul was glaring at me. He obviously thought it was my fault.

Kate made up a salad, and soon the girls served us with an amazing meal.

The room was quiet as we all tried to eat as fast as possible. Among werewolves, if you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat.

I noticed Kate watching us looking slightly amused; I hoped we hadn't grossed her out.

After we had finished, Seth and Jared excused themselves to patrol, and I saw Emily give Sam a pointed look when he started to say something to me.

I really do love Emily.

After clearing the table, Leah and Kate very deliberately took a seat, and gave us pointed looks.

They soon had Kim sit down with them, and we all slowly got up.

Emily insisted on helping, telling the girls she wanted everything done a certain way. They seemed to accept this, but secretly I think she knew we would need all the help we cold get.

The girls sat and watched us, laughing at us whenever someone did something stupid.

Two smashed plates, and three fights later we finally finished. I am pretty sure that Emily did more then the eight of us combined, but we did try.

We all settled down in the living room and I pulled Kate onto my lap to sit.

Around us I could hear the usual banter, with Kate joining in just as much as the person, but I just couldn't focus on the conversation. All I could focus on was my princess.

The way her eyes lit up when she was talking, and the way she would brush her hair back occasionally, making her look like on of those windswept models.

I couldn't believe she was mine, or at least one day she will be mine.

I would make sure of it. I want nothing more out of life then to put a ring on her finger, and nothing would make me prouder then to truly call her 'my own.'

Slowly people started leaving, and my angel start yawning, so I offered to take her home. Unfortunately Sam heard me.

He pulled me to the side, and after I pointed out that he would want Emily walking home alone in the dark he conceded, but not before ordering me to go on patrol the minute she was home.

We walked hand in hand again, but this time it was anything but quiet. She was gushing about the pack, and how much fun she had had.

We got to hers, and I walked her to her door. After the front door open Sam's voice started to lightly buzz in the back of my head.

I ignored it and gave her a proper kiss goodbye, I wasn't going to let Sam stop that. After our kiss his voice started to build up to a more irritating level.

"You know, Mum is in Seattle all night, do you want to come up stairs and finish what we started earlier?" She whispered in my ear seductively.

I started to follow her inside, but Sam's voice was getting louder and louder until I couldn't hear myself think.

"I am so sorry Princess, but I promised Sam I would help him out with something." I told her, my disappointment evident in my voice.

She gave me the cutest pout I have ever seen and I suddenly had an idea

"But I can probably take a break in an hour or so, any chance you will still be up then?" I asked, sounding hopeful.

"I'd say there is every chance." She told me, before giving me a chaste kiss on the lips, and walking upstairs. I tried to admire her, but my head was pounding.

I shut her front door and tore off my clothes, trying to phase as fast as possible.

Once I made it onto patrol his voice disappeared, and I was left with my own thoughts.

I realised I was in desperate need of a wolfy cold shower, so I headed to the river for a swim before I met up with Seth and Jared.

_Dude, that sucks you had to come on patrol_ Seth thought after he saw my last encounter with my angel.

_Yeah, No shit. I can't imagine turning down Kim like that_ Jared agree.

I made it to the river, and let the freezing water clear my head. This girl will be the death of me, I swear.

_So you understand if I take my break a bit earlier? _I asked the boys, not really thinking that they would mind. Jared has Kim, so he understands completely, and Seth is such a nice guy, nothing bothered him.

_We'll try to get the first round done a.s.a.p. for you, so you can get back to her. _Jared told me, and I sped up to try and meet them. He was right, the faster we got the first check done, the faster I can see Kate.

My mind started to imagine what would happen when I got there, and both Seth and Jared were cringing by the time we had finished.

I raced back to Kate's house, faster then I had ever run before.

I pulled on my clothes on and let myself in.

Climbing the stairs I did a quick breath check, and made sure I had condoms in my back pocket.

I walked into her room, but I couldn't see her so I called out her name tentatively.

"Hey there" She said walking out of her wardrobe, "I didn't expect you this quickly, I was going to have a special outfit picked out for you."

I threw a quick glance at the clock and saw we had managed it in about 40 minutes. I gave silent thanks the Jared and Seth.

"That's ok, you still look absolutely gorgeous." I told her, wrapping my arms around her. And she did, she was wearing a very tight black top that stopped just below her bellybutton, and very short, very tight black shorts.

I pushed her up against the wall, and lifted her so she wrapped her legs around my waist. My tongue was in her mouth, and I could hear small moans coming from her.

I realised I couldn't continue with her rubbing against me for much longer, so I tightened my grip on her perfect butt, and carried her over to her bed.

--

**A/N: I have decided I won't put up a Kate POV for a little while, as I want everything that is going on with her to be explained in it's own time. I sort of feel Embry has to discover it for himself. Huge thanks to everyone who is reading this, and extra thanks to those who review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** No recognisable characters, settings, etc are owned by me.

**A/N: Most of this was written in an air-port, at about 3am my time, having sat in Melbourne Airport for the last 9 hours, so I am just hoping it makes sense, let alone is grammatically correct. Please ignore any errors, and I will try to fix them up after I get home.**

**Chapter 10**

"Wakey, wakey. Come on, you know you want to wake up."

An angel's voice started drifting through my unconscious.

I opened my eyes to the most beautiful sight. In all my life, I would never get used to waking up with Kate. Never, not at all.

There is nothing more perfect in this world then having my darling as the last thing I see when I fall asleep, and the first thing I see when I wake up.

I made a vow to be sure that after high school I would marry her, wake up to this every day for the rest of my life.

"Good morning" I said, smiling up at her.

"Good morning, you in the mood for breakfast?" She asked, as she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of bed.

"Always." I replied, as I pulled on my jeans and followed her downstairs to the kitchen.

We settled down at the table with cereal. Kate was reading the paper, and I was watching her.

She looked up from the paper about half through the meal and asked,

"Hey, how did you go helping Sam last night?"

Shit! Sam! I completely forgot I was meant to return on patrol last night, I fell asleep instead.

Oh my God, he was going to kill me.

"Not good then?" She asked, smiling at the look of horror on my face.

"No, it's just that I promised him I would go back to help him, but I fell asleep.

"He'll get over it." She told me.

"I am not sure he will, I have been doing this kind of thing a lot lately." I answered.

"You fell asleep, he can't blame you for being tired." She replied.

"He will blame me. But I'll deal with him later. What's the time? Do we need to get going soon?"

She checked her phone, and gave a sheepish look.

"Yeah, we are a little late." She told me.

"How late?" I asked.

"Well, if we rush we can make it in time for second lesson." She replied.

I shook my head, and headed upstairs to find the rest of my clothes.

After we were both dressed and ready, with only minimal interruptions (which were all her fault of course, she is the one who chose to walk around in just her bra) we made it out the door off to school.

By the time she pulled her convertible into the car park, it was three quarters of the way through second period.

After she got us out of trouble easily with the teachers, we took our seats with Jared and Paul, and that's when the teasing began.

"Walk of shame!" Paul laughed, too low for anyone but myself and Jared to hear.

"Hey Embry, weren't you wearing something awfully similar yesterday? I swear I have seen that top before." Jared added.

"You must have had a pretty good night to be walking in with Kate at this hour." Paul added, before wolf whistling under his breath. (A/N no pun intended.)

I gave him a swift punch to the arm in hopes of shutting him up.

At this Kate gave me a weird look, I forgot she couldn't hear us, but shrugged, and turned her attention back to the front.

The rest of the day followed the same sort of pattern, with the guys taking the piss of me whenever they could without Kate hearing, and a lot of the rest of the school giving me strange looks, but not having the balls to actually come up and comment on my wardrobe choice for the day.

It was so nice to get to maths, where it was just the two of us at the back of the classroom.

Not long into the lecture, Kate rested her head on my shoulder. I tilted my head so it was leaning on hers.

I could feel her body move up and down with each breath, and there was something surprisingly intimate about.

"Tired?" I asked, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Yeah, heaps. And I am meant to go out this weekend. I so can't be screwed." She repsoned.

"So don't." I said, trying not to sound patronizing.

"I promised. Plus, I backed out last weekend cause of Abby's thing on Friday, and our movie night on Saturday." She told me, and I instantly felt slightly elated that she had put me before other plans, I wasn't just some last resort.

"Well there is no rule the you have to go out every weekend, surely you can take another weekend off." I tried to reason with her, truth be told I was being slightly selfish, I wanted her curled up with me all weekend.

"Not this weekend, it is my sister's weekend off, and we never get to go out together. Plus it is our friend Jess' 21st on Saturday night, so I have go with her to that too."

"If you really have to go, then I recommend you get a very good night's sleep tonight."

"Mmmm…or I could just sleep here for the rest of the lesson." She snuggled deeper into my neck, and I put my arm around her and pulled her closer.

The teacher raised her eyebrow at us, but didn't say anything, so I didn't let her go.

Too soon, the bell for next lesson rang, so we slowly got up and headed for last lesson.

"Wanna come this weekend? Chances are I could do I'm gonna need a pillow while we're out." She asked as we headed toward her locker, and my mood instantly brightened.

"Sure, where is exactly are you planning on going?" I responded, trying to keep it cool.

"Not sure yet, probably Port Angeles. Jess is having a costume party, so we will have to get you something to wear. We will probably end up staying in Port Angeles overnight, so we can pick something up for you the next day." She told me, half talking to herself as well.

"What are you wearing?" I asked, half hoping it would be something that I would have to punch every guy in the room for looking at her, and half wanting to see her in an outfit that would need me to do just that.

"It's a surprise." She smirked at me, before walking into the art room and taking a seat at our table.

"Here are our favourite couple." Seth announced as we sat down.

"Yeah, just when we thought you had ditched last lesson to have some 'couple time'" Jacob added.

The pack all burst out laughing, as did Kate, ignoring the daggers I sent their way.

"Sorry to disappoint boys, we're not a couple. We just been hanging out a lot lately." Kate responded.

I almost fell off my chair when she announced that. I thought I meant a lot more to her then just hanging out.

The guys all seemed too stunned to replies, so thankfully Kim broke the awkward silence by commenting on how much fan she had had at dinner last night.

I was pretty much silent for the rest of the class, and I think Kate picked up on it, but she didn't say anything.

What does this mean, where do we stand? I am so confused.

The final bell sounded, and we all started to pack up.

"You need a ride home?" Kate asked. I considered asking Jake or Quil for a ride, but I desperately wanted to work out where I stood.

"Yeah, that would be good thanks." I responded.

We grabbed our stuff and walked out to the car in silence.

"You okay?" She asked as soon as we were out of the car park.

"Yeah, just a bit confused." I responded, not sure how to bring it up.

Finally I just told myself to grow a pair and ask her straight out.

"What did you mean when you said we weren't a couple?" I asked, looking at her, even though she kept her eyes on the road.

She was silent for a second, then opened her mouth,

"Look… Well… I…" She fell silent again.

By this time we had pulled up out the front of mine, but I made no move to get out the car, I was going to get an answer.

She turned to face me,

"I told you from the start, I wasn't interested in a relationship. I thought you understood that."

"I do, I just…I guess I thought I meant more to you then just hanging out." I replied. I couldn't help feeling like our roles were reversed, and for some reason I was playing the chick in the relationship.

"Of course you do Embry, I just don't see the need to label it. Ok?" Her tone made it clear the conversation was over, so I turned and started to get out of the car before she called me back.

"I think you were right earlier, I really need a good night's sleep tonight. Would you mind coming over later? I always seem to sleep much better when you're around." She looked away from me when she said the last part, as if she felt ashamed or something.

I pulled my hand on her chin, and pulled her eyes back to meet mine.

"I would love to." I gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, before shutting the car door and heading inside.

Mum had left the front door unlocked again, so I headed straight in and dumped my stuff on the couch, before almost having a heart attack when I saw Sam was sitting there.

"Hi." He said, his expression unreadable, "Why don't you take a seat?"

I sat down on the coffee table facing him, surprised that I had managed to forget all about patrol when I made my plans with Kate. Then I remembered last night.

I swear, something about that girl just wipes my brain of other thoughts then her.

"Hi." I responded warily.

"I don't know where to start. You let you wolf form be seen by a human, so I gave you extra patrols. You neglected these patrols, so I threatened you with more. You then skipped all but an hours of last nights patrol, and now I hear you making other plans for tonight." He paused, and I felt the guilt and apprehension build up.

"Clearly, you do not respond well to punishment" He paused again.

I sat there staring at my feet, feeling just like the little boy who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"So I think it is time for a different approach. Authority seems to mean nothing to you, so lets try friendship." Another pause, this time I was wondering where he was going with this.

"I am removing all extra patrols that were given to you, and I will even give you this weekend off. As you friend, and as someone who knows how it feels to be young and in love, I want you to know I understand. I also want you to respect me, and do patrols now when I ask them of you. I ask as your friend, that if you do you best not to let me down again, then I will do my best to give you as much time with Kate as possible."

I sat there, stunned. I couldn't believe Sam was being so…reasonable.

"So do we have a deal?" He asked, smiling at my rare bout of speechlessness.

"Yeah absolutely." We shook hands, and he got up to leave, just as he was out the door my senses finally returned to me,

"Hey Sam…Thanks."


End file.
